


Final Fantasy: The Last Awakened Prologue

by Flaming_Cynner



Series: Final Fantasy: The Last Awakened [1]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy X
Genre: Action/Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Gen, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-18 22:50:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20646983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flaming_Cynner/pseuds/Flaming_Cynner
Summary: A young man living in a world ruled by social relevancy is haunted by premonitions of darkness engulfing the world he knows and the people he loves in despair and ruin. The only way is to embrace his powers as an Awakened, a human capable of many different powers, whose strength lies within the bonds that he makes with other people. With this new power, our hero, Iszac Cynth must travel to different worlds, and fight alongside iconic Final Fantasy heroes, and even awaken powers lying dormant within other people to try and stop the darkness and destruction that is making its way across the multiverse. But is the danger closer than he might think?





	Final Fantasy: The Last Awakened Prologue

It was another one of those recurring nights for one Iszac Cynth. It was another nightmare, the same one… A shadow being cast over different worlds, over stars, and he saw the shadows enshrouding his world. He saw and felt pain, anguish, fear as the shadows overtook the people that were running. And then, it went over to him, and just before it hit him, he jostled awake in a cold sweat. He held his head as he panted, trying to maintain his breathing and slow down his heart rate. He rubbed his face and looked down at his now wet hands… He had been crying this time…

Iszac stood up and went to his apartment bathroom and splashed cold water on his face and stared at himself in the mirror. He adjusted the headwrap that let his hair soak in the products in his hair, and took in a deep breath. After drinking some water and drying his hands, he went back to his room, turned off the light, and got comfortable in his bed. He turned to check his phone… 5:30 A.M. Thankfully he was on vacation from work, cause this would have been one day that he would have definitely have to call out for. He put his phone back on the dresser and closed his eyes again, and tried counting down from one hundred, hoping that he could fall back asleep fast and not be pulled into the same nightmare again. As he counted down from one hundred, he began to wonder about his nightmare, what it meant, what if it was real, what could he do to help. It wasn’t long until he stopped counting and continued thinking.

It was pitch black and nothing could be seen. With arms and hands straight out in front of him, Iszac took cautious steps forward, hoping to find a wall. But no matter how far he went, nothing changed. Iszac took a few faster steps until he walked normally, and continued taking faster steps until he was running. He ran faster and kept running until he heard a crackle from behind. He looked behind him and saw the black floor cracking and eventually crumbled to show a sapphire blue sky with white clouds. The crumbling was following Iszac’s footfalls and gradually hastened with every step Iszac took, which was much more since Iszac didn’t want to fall into the sky below, but he didn’t want to continue in the darkness.

But as fast as Iszac could run, he couldn’t run forever, and his last step was the step that fell through the disintegrating floor. Silent screams floated to the wind as he fell into the sky below. He tried to move in different positions, to try and get himself into sky-diver position. Eventually the deep sapphire sky had stopped, and he saw the ocean blue below him. He tried to move his body to be in a position that braced for impact, suddenly, his chest started glowing, light engulfing him until he made contact with the water. But he floated down about 5 inches from the water’s surface, when he stopped moving in the water, his long hair splayed and danced idly underwater, and took a look at his reflection. 

Within his mirror image, he saw stuff appear behind him, a gold coin with the symbols ‘必然’, a red archway overlooking a crystal clear fountain, and a black cat jumping on top of the spraying waters before taking a leap through the red archway and disappearing. Iszac was very confused, and scared as to what this meant. But at the same time, he felt curious, what does this all mean? What did those images have to do with him? And where were the answers he needed? He heard a muffled tune playing as he stared at the reflection of the water’s surface. He took a step forward toward the reflection, that’s right, a step underwater, and stopped right face to face with the reflection, hearing the tune a bit more clearly. He recognized the tune and gulped as he stepped into the reflection, and out of the water.

Iszac opened his eyes to be greeted by the ceiling of his bedroom, now well lit, and flooded with morning light. He looked at his phone clock… 10:21 A.M. He sighed as he stretched in bed and got dressed. Iszac was a young man of 22, worked in the love-hate job of retail, and on the surface, seemed like an average, apathetic person. But outside of work, and on his days off, he was a shy, yet expressive, honest, yet sweet, quiet, yet charming person. He always liked to feel free, so whenever he had the chance, he would always sport a kilt, describing that it was “easy to move in, and easier to breathe.” 

He was unwrapping his long hair and fixing it up, and putting in something to make it look more fresh and curly when he heard a ping from his phone. Wiping off his hand, Iszac looked at the message, which was a friend telling about a cool new curio shop that had opened in downtown. Iszac had a big fascination with video games, and oddities, so naturally he made a plan at that moment to visit said curio shop with that friend. But, sadly his friend had said with a lot of frowning and crying emojis that he was at work today and would have to take a raincheck.

“... Alright, then I guess I’ll go by myself.” Iszac thought aloud to himself while texting his friend, ‘Oh, well maybe we can make a whole day of it next time your off, I would love to hang with you again.’ But hope was shot down with a replied, ‘We’ll see.’

Hesitantly brushing off rejection, Iszac put on his sneakers and hooded vest and went out of his apartment with a lock of the door, lowering all expectations on the way out of his apartment building.

Iszac walked down the see-through moving sidewalks of Crystal Heights, a city of technological advances to make commutes to work, and leisure as easy asking a waiter what do they recommend, and then picking something completely different. As much as he enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the city, he didn’t like how this place was basically a township of social media, old trends fading away as fast as new trends came up. So it was practically interesting to see that a curio shop had opened up in town. 

But it opened up in what Crystal Heights Socialites would call, “the slums.” But it wasn’t slums at all, anyone who was not comfortable taking the way most travelled, the way of the future so to speak, people could get off the moving sidewalks at anytime on one of the “exit bridges” and make their way down a flight of stairs to a place where people walked, drove cars, and where a lot of the light was diffused but natural. Flowers were real, cats and dogs kept to themselves, and it was just as busy, if only a bit less than the “uptown”. It was referred to as Crystal River. 

Iszac liked Crystal River a lot better because it was more down-to-earth, and refreshing, in contrast to the bright, colorful, and exciting screens of the Heights. But as good as refreshing as it was, Crystal River was also pretty dangerous, because people would always look for opportunity to try and get out of where they were, due to the politics that were tied in with the Heights versus the River. The Heights looked down at the River for being common and not being up with the times, and the River looked down at the Heights for not appreciating the beauty and soul that was associated with the River, in both nature and character of the people. But of course, a lot of dreamers who dreamed of reaching the Heights would try to reach it in some of the shadiest ways. Scheming, scamming, and even scooping for dirt and gossip on the socialites that graced the Heights.

Iszac was looking at his phone to find the directions he needed to get to the curio shop, but he was also quick to memorize directions and put his phone away, because he knew better than to be distracted in any place. He stopped at a few food places to buy and eat some food before continuing on, and even did a bit of window shopping at the bazaar. But as Iszac kept on walking around, he noticed a couple of people look in his direction and whispered slightly amongst themselves, making him a bit uneasy. He kept going until he got bumped into by a kid, whom fell down onto his butt.

“Ow! Hey, watch where you’re going!” The kid grunted, snarling at him, but then his face dropped as he saw Iszac.

“Oh! I’m so sorry, little dude, I was in a hurry, and I didn’t see you there… You okay?” Iszac asked, reaching his hand out to help him up.

“A-Ah! Oh my gosh… You’re… Guys! Come over here! You’ll never believe who I ran into!” He jumped up without grabbing Iszac’s hand, and called out behind him, and a group of kids of various ages.

“Oh my god, it’s Cynthisize! We watch your gameplay videos all the time!” A girl said in total amazement.

“Dude, this is so cool! Can I get an autograph?!” Another kid asked happily jumping up and down in excitement.

“Are you gonna be at the GameCon this year?! I would love to see you on a panel!” An older kid asked with a smile.

Yes, between his retail job, Iszac had even gotten to be able to live in the Heights because he was a pretty famous Let’s Player, and livestreamer. That combined with his online presence, gained him the Socialite Status. He used to live in the River with his older brother and older sister. Used to… after his rise to mid-time fame, he was offered an apartment in the Heights, he accepted if he could bring his siblings with him. It would have been perfect if he hadn’t come home to his old home on fire. There were two bodies that were too charred to be identified, but police had assumed they were his siblings. And solemnly, he moved to the Heights and never looked back. He frequented the River because of nostalgia, because he always hoped to see his brother and sister if he kept walking through.

“Ummm, sure! I can give you an autograph… and as far as GameCon… I didn’t even know that was coming up so soon… I would have to look at my schedule, but I can definitely try to make some plans.” Iszac said, smiling as he began to hang out with his fans. They spent a good time talking and walking through the bazaar. It was pretty cool to hear the kids’ stories and how much of an influence Iszac was on them.

“So, what brings you down here to the River?” The kid Iszac bumped into asked.

“Oh, I heard about a new curio shop that opened up recently, and I wanted to go check it out. You wouldn’t happen to know where it is, would you?”

“Curio shop… Oh! You’re talking about Ramuh’s Trinkets!” the girl said, smiling.

“We can take you there, it’ll be kind of like being your bodyguards, cause a lot of the kids around here are pickpockets.” The older kid explained, “Not that it’s their fault of course.”

“Oh cool! That would be awesome, lead the way.” Iszac said, following close by the kids.

“You’re pretty cool, Iszac… Why would you ever come down here, where the Heights don’t like us?” The autograph kid asked, walking next to him.

“Well, I used to live here, just like you guys, I got the opportunity to go to the Heights. And to be honest, I miss the beautiful sights, and the flavor that the River has to offer, more so than the Heights could ever give. I come down here to never forget where I came from… And to never forget who I lost…” He said, trailing off, but he shook his head. “And plus, as fast as the Heights change every day, the River changes not as rapidly, but it does change.”

“That’s kinda weird, I always want to get out of the River because I don’t like how more dangerous the River has gotten.” The older kid responded.

“Well, you gotta remember about the different territories, and plan accordingly. That and be fast. And sometimes, you gotta go into the dangerous places to map out how to get out if you need to. Just like the games you watch me play. But I understand that, you want a different life than what you’re living.” Iszac explained with a smile, “There’s nothing wrong with that. But remember to appreciate the good in what you have right now.”

“Ugh, you sound like my dad…” The girl groaned, followed by a whole group laugh.

“Well, is there something more that you wanna do?” the bumper kid asked.

“... That’s a good question… I guess I wanna see more of what’s out there… I look up at the stars sometimes when I’m relaxing at home, and I just wonder what is outside of Crystal City. You know?” Iszac answered trying to find the words to describe it. “I’ve only known what’s around me, and what I’m playing on screen, and how I’m living. There’s just so much I wanna experience. And so much I wanna do…”

“That’s pretty deep, man.” The autograph kid said, wide eyed in amazement.

“Yeah, that just brings up so many more questions…” the older kid said, “Oh, we’re here.” 

They came up to the small curio shop on the corner of a 5-way intersection, large yellow and green wooden sign shaped like a cartoon lightning bolt that said, Ramuh’s Trinkets, various statuettes and antique swords were on display in the shop window. All the kids stood in awe, but Iszac had a feeling about this shop, a feeling that something was calling to him.

“Oooh, let’s go check it out!” The bumper kid said, and the others followed suit, going inside, Iszac’s eyes widening as he jogged after them. But going in, it was well lit, and everything looked either freshly dusted, or restored. Behind the counter, there was an old man, and a young woman holding down the shop front.

“Welcome welcome, look around and if you have any questions, ask me, or Mr. Kurogane.” The young woman said to the kids, and looked up and saw Iszac, giving a customer service smile. “Hello sir, welcome to Ramuh’s Trinkets, ooh, I like your kilt!”

“Oh, thank you, I’m sorry, they showed me the way here, I didn’t intend to bring anyone else but myself…” Iszac blushed a bit embarrassed. He wasn’t sure if this was one of the stores that didn’t like kids

“No need to apologize, we just appreciate being a topic of conversation with folks young and old.” The old man, Mr. Kurogane said, with a friendly nod.

“Oh thank goodness.” Iszac sighed in relief and proceeded to look around. There were many different antique weapons, cannons, swords, gauntlets, leather back journals, jewelry, clothing, even a few full suits of armor. He looked around at the different display cases, until he saw something glisten catch his eye. He walked along the display case and saw a small gold coin medallion in the back of the case, and it had the same characters, ‘必然’ as in his dream. He knew this couldn’t be a coincidence…

“Hitsuzen.” The young woman’s voice said next to him, making Iszac jump. The young woman was up to Iszac’s neck in height, ginger hair tied in a high ponytail, black blouse, knee-length pleated skirt, red knee-high socks and black high-top sneakers. “That’s what the medallion says in Japanese. It means, The Inevitable.” She further explained, “Sorry, did I scare you?”

“O-Oh, really? That’s interesting, I didn’t know that was Japanese… Did you take Japanese?” Iszac asked, “And… yeah, you kind of did scare me…”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’ll try to not be so quiet from now on,” She chuckled, “But I didn’t take Japanese, Mr. Kurogane told me about the medallion. Were you looking to buy it?”

“Y-Yeah, I don’t know, I just feel… a connection with this one… like I’ve seen it before…” Iszac said, “Umm, how much is it?” He asked.

“Umm… I’m not sure, Mr. Kurogane told me it’s real gold… I can ask him for you. Hold on a minute.” She said, walking away back to the front counter. She came back with Mr. Kurogane himself, a man who was short up to the girl’s shoulder wearing a simple button down, slacks, and slip-on shoes.

“So, you want the gold coin medallion, Melodia tells me?” Mr. Kurogane inquired, raising an eyebrow.

“Y-Yes please, how much is it?” Iszac asked.

Mr. Kurogane looked at the medallion, deep in thought, as if calculating in his mind. “I’ll give it to you for… $350.” He finally said, “It’s real gold, but it holds precious memories…” 

Iszac recoiled a bit at the price, and looked back at the coin, and he couldn’t help but think about his dream, and how the coin fit into the dream. He looked at Mr. Kurogane, took out his wallet, and pulled out some cash. “I’ll take it.”

Mr. Kurogane, Melodia, and all the kids were a bit shocked.

“Are you sure, son?” Mr. Kurogane asked, eyes widened.

“I’ve never been more sure, sir.” Iszac said, smiling.

The transaction was made, and Iszac was wearing his gold medallion around his neck. He never felt more sure of a purchase ever in his life.

“Thank you for coming, we hope to see you again!” Melodia said, waving goodbye to the kids and Iszac. “Oh, sir, your receipt!” She said, ushering Iszac back to the counter.

“Oh, thank you so much. So, your name’s Melodia? Pretty name.” Iszac said.

“You think so? I think it’s pretty weird, makes me sound like a princess or something.” Melodia said.

“At least you don’t have a name like mine. Iszac… That’s with an ‘s’ and a ‘z’. Talk about wanting to be different.” Iszac chuckled, “But I like Melodia, it’s a beautiful name.”

“Well, I don’t think Iszac’s a weird name, well, I wouldn’t say weird, it’s unique.” Melodia tilted her head with a smile.

“Thanks. That means a lot, and that’s coming from someone who got bullied about his name… maybe we can hang out some more?” Iszac said, smiling back.

“That would be cool. Oh, I gotta go, be safe out there, Iszac.” Melodia said, waving as she turned to go up the stairs.

Iszac walked out and looked at the kids who were looking at him teasingly.

“Heh, you like her don’t you?” bumper kid asked, smiling proudly.

“She was pretty nice, you two would be pretty cool together!” the girl said, smiling.

“Come to think of it, you have made single jokes on a lot of your live streams before…” the older kid said, resting their fingers on their chin.

“Well, tell us, did you ask her out or not?” the autograph kid asked jumping up and down.

“It’s not like that… I’m not really looking for love… in fact, I don’t know if a lot of people would like me, especially since I’m not like a lot of people…” Iszac said, blushing a bit, trailing off.

“What do you mean?” the older kid tilted their head.

“W-Well… I’m more into guys… rather than girls…” Iszac said, it took him a minute, to actually say it.

“You’re gay?” bumper kid asked.

“... Yeah… I guess…” Iszac bit his lip, looking down at his shoes. He didn’t know what to expect because even though being gay and a different identity other than the one you were assigned at birth was a thing, it was kind of looked down upon even if you were a Socialite.

“Dude, that’s pretty cool.” Bumper kid finally said, after looking at his other friends.

“Wait… really?” Iszac asked, looking up at them all.

“I think it’s cool that you know you like.” autograph kid smiled.

“We support you, oh gosh, that’s amazing, we don’t have that many gay celebrities. This is so awesome!” The girl said, clenching her fists.

“You don’t have to be afraid, dude. If you want it to be a secret, we won’t tell. I mean, you come out when you want to.” the older kid gave a thumbs up.

Iszac blinked, never thinking that he would get so much support, from a group of younger fans. “If I may ask… who are you? What are your names?” He asked.

“Binta.” Bumper kid said, crossing his arms.

“Lisbeth, but call me Lee.” the girl said, waving.

“Tanner.” The older kid fidgeted their thumbs.

“Quinlan.” autograph kid smiled with a peace sign.

“We’re a small podcast group that discusses LGBTQ topics, and we’ve been getting quite a good following.” Binta said, smirking.

“We have more friends who are part of our podcast, but they weren't available to hang out today.” Lee continued.

“We would love to have you as a guest one day.” Quinlan clapped their hands together.

“When you’re comfortable to of course, we wouldn’t want you to be pressured into anything.” Tanner smiled small. “After all, we’re fans first, and podcast second.” 

Iszac couldn’t believe his ears, and he smiled. “That’s awesome you g-... umm, you all, I need to follow you… what’s the name of your podcast?”

“Y’all Not Ready For This Conversation. With QILBAT+ Guests!” Tanner chuckles.

“I’ll make sure to look you up!” Iszac said, smiling.

“Please, that would be awesome! Well, we should probably get going, it’s getting pretty late.” Quinlan waved as they started to walk down one of the intersections.

“Don’t be a stranger, Iszac!” Binta said, running after Quinlan.

“Byee!” Lee called out as she ran with them.

“Be careful, you should know how dangerous the River gets during nighttime.” Tanner gave a peace sign and followed their friends down the same path.

Iszac waved back to them and proceeded to walk down the way they came from, and went through the alleys, eventually making it back to the bazaar by dusk. He noticed there were a few less people, but people were still shopping, and there were night lights that kept the area somewhat lit. He walked back up the way he came through the bazaar, when he felt something weird. He looked around nonchalantly, and noticed there were a couple of hooded men following him. Iszac kept calm and kept walking forward. But then, he noticed a few more hooded men, casually blocking the way he came, and decided quickly but not frantically to go down an alleyway that he remembered taking all those years ago with his old best friend.

Iszac went into the alleyway and ducked down a few turns, it felt like a labyrinth, but he knew this alley like the back of his hand. Eventually, he came out at the street where his old house was located. He looked around and sighed in relief.

“Lost them…”

“Hey buuuddy~.” A familiar voice said from behind him. Iszac jumped and turned around as he was met face to face with his old best friend Stiltzkin. A young man about Iszac’s height, but he looked a bit different, he had a side-shaved head with a long overcast of red hair swooped over his right side, he looked a bit more toned than last time he saw him, and he was wearing a black vest, red and black plaid pants and black leather shin high boots. 

“S-Stiltz! Oh my gosh, it’s been so long! How’ve you been?”

“Oh, you know, just been living. Surviving. Leading my own life. You know how it is.” Stiltz shrugged. “Just been kicking it with some friends as of late.”

“Oh really? That’s cool. Gosh, I really need to invite you over sometime to play games like old times. I’m sorry I never told you… I had an opportunity to move to the Heights, and I already moved… It was kind of sudden…” He said, trailing off, as he noticed a couple of hooded people coming up behind Stiltz. “S-Stiltz, be careful… someone’s coming up behind… you…” He started saying, but he noticed Stiltz had a sinister look on him.

“Yeah, I know… the livestreams you do… don’t feature your old bedroom anymore. It’s kind of weird that you never told me about it. Even though I saw heard your house had burned down. I’m sorry that you lost Nina and Cameron…” Stiltz said, doing a half-smile. “But, you still could have at least come to me, and told me what was going on.”

“I-I forgot all about everything, I was going through it, Stiltz… I didn’t mean to forget about you in the long run… It was just so much and I wasn’t thinking straight…” Iszac tried to reason, but he heard footsteps coming from behind him, no mistake, it was the hooded men from earlier.

“You forgot your best friend? Well, I never did. I tried getting in touch with you, emails, calls, I tried commenting on your livestreams, but they were always overshadowed! I never forgot my best friend. But I can see that we weren’t best friends to begin with. Who was it that actually started the idea? Who was the one who gave you a video camera for your birthday? So we could start somewhere? After all I did, all I gave you... you forgot your best friend?” Stiltzkin gritted his teeth, tears falling down as he pulled out a knife.

Iszac’s eyes widened as he noticed the knife, and looked around for a way out. “I was so overwhelmed I couldn’t think straight… I know it isn’t an excuse to justify it… But in all the videos on my channel, I would always give a shout out to you, I didn’t remember what your channel was, so I always tried to give you credit, I wanted to get you on with my lease in Heights, but I had already signed the contract with the conditions of bringing my family… Then the fire happened and… and…” Iszac started welling up tears as he saw Stiltzkin take a menacing step towards him. Iszac saw within the shadows of a hidden alleyway, there was a familiar black cat sitting down the corner of the alleyway lit up by the moonlight. It was the cat from his dream.

“I always told you that my channel would be Stiltzkin_Rumpled! You never made an attempt to contact me, and don’t give me that whole, ‘I was busy’ bullshit excuse! Cause you know what?! I was busy too. Busy adapting, and trying to do my best to get out of this hell hole you left me in without so much as a goodbye! But, instead, I made this hell hole my territory, and you chose to come around on the wrong day. Now my dear Prince of the Heights, I believe I gave you your fame… It’s time to pay.” 

Iszac gasped as he tried to look for a way out, he couldn’t just make a break for the alleyway where the cat had just walked away. He had to think fast, but then remembered, he always carried emergency flash bombs in case he was in a situation like this. He and Stiltz had been experts at crafting them since they were young. And it sucks that Iszac had to use it on him now. He didn’t waste any time, he pulled it out and slammed it on the ground with a jump toward the alleyway, and a cover of his eyes. Stiltzkin screamed as he covered his eyes, and the other gang members were blinded and surprised as well. Iszac broke into a run, knocking over some trash cans as he made his way down the alley!

“GAH! You bastard! After him!” Stiltzkin shouted, he didn’t even sound like Stiltz anymore. Iszac had flown through the alleyway, noticing that the cat was ahead of him, he just managed to see him run around the corner and proceeded to follow him. 

Iszac kept on running and following the cat through the alley until he ended up in the Crystal Forest Park, one of the four known parks in Crystal City, two of which were in Crystal River, one was in Crystal Heights, and the fourth one was in Crystal Peaks, an area higher up from Crystal Heights. He looked around the park, and noticed it was so beautiful, so serene, even at night. Fireflies danced through the night, the wind gently blew through the trees. He snapped out of his trance to remember he needed to hide. He ran around the park, trying to find a place to hide or escape, until he stopped, and found something that could not have been a coincidence.

In front of Iszac was the same red arch overlooking the same large fountain from his dream. He completely forgot about being chased and walked up to the fountain, and looked at the water, strangely, the fountain was still running, even at night. He continued looking down at his reflection when he noticed his reflection had glowed around his neck. He took out the gold coin medallion from under his shirt, and saw it was glowing. He looked at the medallion, then behind him, and then to the fountain. Iszac’s heart was racing… Could this be something that could help him? Could this be fate? He didn’t have time to question it, he took the coin medallion off, closed his eyes, inhaled, and flipped the coin into the fountain. He heard the coin hit the water, and thought he felt the winds pick up like a ripple had gone from the water and into the air. He waited a few seconds, and then opened his eyes. He waited a few more seconds as he heard nothing but total silence. He blinked as he looked at the fountain, he didn’t even see his coin glisten anymore. A total let down, and now-...

“BOO!” Stiltzkin shouted as he kicked Iszac in the face when he turned around in shock, landing in the fountain.

Iszac grunted as he tried to get up from the fountain, he was soaked, but he felt something warm coming from his nose, he touched his nostrils, and saw a dark spot… blood. He then heard laughter coming from behind him, he yelped as his long hair was gripped by Stiltzkin and he was dragged out of the fountain.

“You moron! You thought the park would save you?! You were doomed from the start. You know, I was gonna rough you up, stab you a few times, and roll you, but you know, since you gave me and my boys such a hard time, and made us suffer with some cardio, how about you work on your cardio too?” He said as he positioned Iszac at the edge of the fountain and proceeded to dunk his head into the fountain in an attempt to drown him, but pulled his head up and back down into the water, making Iszac greedily gasp for air quickly before being forced back in.

While all of this was going on, the blood had made contact with the water, which made the glow come back to the medallion in the water. Iszac was fighting to try and pull his head out from the water, but he noticed when he opened his eyes that the medallion was glowing and was moving by itself along the floor of the fountain, until it found a niche where it fit perfectly, making the whole fountain start glowing. The winds started picking up, the fireflies gathered around the top of the fountain, and started circling it.

“S-Stiltzkin! The fountain!” One of Stiltzkin’s lackeys cried out, making Stiltzkin look up about to shout at his men, but saw the phenomena and let go of Iszac, whom whipped his head right out of the water, coughing and gasping greedily for air. The water from the fountain started gathering up at the point where the fountain was spewing water, forming an orb of water, the fireflies flew into the orb of water until the fountain eventually spat the orb high up and started shooting down beams of glowing water from the sky, hitting Stiltzkin and the gang members hard, knocking them into the playground equipment. Stiltzkin took only a few hits until he was knocked out while his lackeys were knocked out by one hit. The water came back from where they were shot, gathered up and then proceeded to rain down over the whole park, making flowers start budding in the grass immediately. 

Iszac had curled up by the side of the fountain where Stiltzkin had tried to drown him, so as to not get hit, and because he was scared. He felt the rain hit him, but suddenly he felt revitalized. His nose stopped bleeding, and he wasn't fatigued anymore from running. He got up and looked at Stiltzkin and his gang, they were all unconscious from the look of it. He suddenly heard a jingle, and felt something on his neck, he looked down fast and saw the gold medallion was back on the chain around his neck. 

“W-What the hell was that?” Iszac asked, looking at the fountain again. He heard a meow over the sound of the fountain, he frantically looked around and noticed the black cat again, sitting down on the geyser of water, floating along with it. It looked like it was smirking at Iszac, and then winked at him.

“You show a lot of promise, but it was only pure luck that your blood had awakened the spell.” The cat said loudly to combat the sound of the water.

“Promise? What do you m- did you just say a full sentence?” Iszac asked.

“Heh, classic response. Anyway, let’s get outta here.” The cat said, turning around, and jumping off the geyser, another vision from his dream and went toward the red arch. “Come on. Unless you’d rather stay and actually get killed. In which case, a mood.”

Iszac was a bit worse for wear mentally, physically he felt like he could take on the world. But he was not sure how much he could take. He looked back at Stiltzkin and his gang, then over to the archway, and the cat who was looking back. He clenched his fists, checked his pockets to make sure he didn’t drop anything, and ran around the fountain and went through the red archway with the cat.

Iszac followed the cat close, and noticed his surroundings were not the Crystal Forest Park anymore. He was walking in an all white forest with crystal trees, along a narrow path. He turned to look around as he walked slowly, taking up the sights.

“W-Where are we?” Iszac asked.

“Wow, you seem to have accepted that you’re having a conversation with cat a little bit quickly. I would have expected you to be silent for a little while longer.” The cat shook his head and snickered. “But, to answer your question, this is Crystal Forest, the… how shall I put… other side of your park…” 

Iszac blinked at the cat and kept on walking, and eventually made it to a large clearing where a colossal archway were erected. At this point, The cat began to glow in the middle of the clearing, and began to change form. Standing in front of Iszac was a tall man, long black dreadlocks, dark hazel eyes, a striped shirt, shredded denim vest, army green jeans with multiple chains hanging off, pant legs rolled up to his shin-length black leather boots.

“Allow me to introduce myself, I am Nix, Guardian of the Crystal Forest. And your guide to your destiny.” The man said, crossing his arms.

Iszac’s eyes widened as he saw Nix standing there all of a sudden. “W-What? My destiny? What do you mean?!”

“Iszac, you were able to use the power of the Medallion of the Inevitable. Its purpose is to bring out the power in people known as the Awakened. A race of humans who are blessed with strength, magic, and other powers in order to answer the call of destiny. And you were able to use a powerful magic with the medallion.”

“Umm, more like it just did something by itself. I didn’t do anything… In fact, I would have drowned had it not used whatever move that was.” Iszac shook his head, “And what destiny?! All I know is that I have some strange dreams about being swallowed by shadows, and then I’m falling through darkness and water to see visions of that medallion, that fountain, and you, and all of a sudden, I’m almost killed, and here I am in some weird forest! And another thing, what do you mean, this is the other side of the Crystal Forest Park?! And one more thing, why didn’t you save me back there if you really are my Awakened Guide Beast, or whatever you are?!”

“Well, someone’s a bit angry.” Nix raised an eyebrow. “Regardless if it did something on its own, you were able to use the magic because you and the medallion were connected through a medium, which happened to be the heart of the park, or the fountain.” He explained. “And to be honest, you had to use your own power to fight your own battles, I needed you to awaken on your own. Look, if things got hairy, I would have saved you, but I wanted to see if you were able to awaken the Heart of the Park.” 

Iszac blinked, and slumped down onto the ground. “... This is just too much to process… I don’t get it… What am I? What am I doing here?”

Nix walked over to him. “Remember the shadows that you saw in your dream? You are the chosen one to fight those shadows. And as far as what you’re doing here, you are here to gather the universe’s greatest heroes to help you fight them.” He said, kneeling down and pat his shoulder. “... Are you saying that you were chosen wrong?”

Iszac blinked, his mouth was open but nothing came out but stuttering. His eyes were watering up as he was overwhelmed by everything. “I… I don’t know… I… I just want to go home… This is just too much to handle all at once…” He rubbed his forearms in anxiety, his lips started quivering as he started having the beginnings of a panic attack.

Nix blinked and turned back into a cat, and rubbed against Iszac’s leg, purring. “I understand, Iszac… You don’t have to decide now, but give it some thought, if you want to do this, that’s fine, if not, that’s fine too… But, I’m not going to lie when I say that… you are our only hope… Because you see… I am the last of my kind… I am the last Guardian Beast, which makes you, the last Awakened…” He said, solemnly. “I was born to find my Awakened partner. And fight alongside of them. But, if you didn’t want to do it… I wouldn’t be mad.”

“... Just disappointed.” Iszac finished, slightly calming down, petting Nix a bit, wiping his eyes.

Nix fell silent as he sighed. “Just, give it some thought, make the decision that you think is right for you. Sleep on it. And when you’re ready to give your answer, I’ll be waiting.” He said.

Iszac blinked as he nodded a bit. “I’ll think about it…” He said and began to get up, Nix then jumping off and changing back into his human form.

Nix extended his arm and made a doorway right next to the giant archway. “Take this way, and it’ll take you home.” He said, “And if you have your answer, go through the same door you came out of.”

Iszac walked over to the door, and turned around, looking at Nix, and how saddened he looked. Iszac opened the door and walked on through, eventually walking through darkness once more, until he felt something in front of him, it felt like… a jacket? He walked forward again and felt another door among other coats, and various hanging clothes. He opened it and he was in his room, realizing he came out of his closet. 

“... Oh wow… He thinks he’s so funny...” Iszac deadpanned as he closed the door, and began to get ready for bed. He kept on thinking about all that had happened today, meeting Binta, Quinlan, Lee, Tanner, Melodia, Mr. Kurogane, his frightful reunion with Stiltzkin, and now meeting Nix. He kept on getting intrusive thoughts about everyone getting overtaken by the shadows, tormented, hurt, overwhelmed, brutalized. He didn’t want to think about it, but it was happening in his mind. He let tears loose just thinking about it. He washed his face after brushing his teeth, and got into his bed. Closing his eyes and counting down from one hundred again, he sighed as the thoughts kept on coming, even as he went to sleep. He started seeing visions of the friends he made, of the nice people he saw again in Crystal River, visions of Nix, even visions of Stiltzkin. 

But then he saw Nina and Cameron, wait what? How? Didn’t they die in the fire? Were those bodies not them? Eventually he jolted awake, holding his chest. “I saw Nina and Cameron… but why? What does this mean?” Iszac said aloud to himself. He looked at his phone, 8:27 A.M. He suddenly looked back at his closet and then back at his palms. His palms became fists as he got out of bed and did his usual morning routine. He got dressed in another kilt, black with rainbow pleats, orange shirt, black denim hooded vest, another pair of knee high socks and sneakers, and reluctantly stood in front of his closet door. Iszac inhaled and went through the passageway, and came back to the Crystal Forest, where Nyx jumped up, like he was startled awake. Iszac walked up to Nix, looked dead into his wide eyes and simply said:

“I’ll do it.”

  
  



End file.
